A most elegant European bird
Photos Arne Ader
Translation Liis
Great egret
Great egret Hõbehaigur Egretta alba
Great egrets are birds with a southerly range that during recent decades have become increasingly more frequent guests in Estonia, particularly from the end of July until the departure in September, or as weather and feeding opportunities decide. Even some breeding pairs have been noted in Estonia in the past 5 years.
With an extremely noteworthy exterior, great egrets are held to be among the most elegant birds in Europe: body length up to a metre, wing span almost one metre and a half, weight between 1 and 11/2 kilos. The plumage is pure white, after the breeding period the beak colour changes to bright yellow, the long legs are mustard yellow. When a newly arrived flock looks for overnight places in trees the haphazard ”bustling about” in the trees until settling down is quite amusing to observe – unfamiliar place, unknown trees. The flight image is as for grey herons somewhat awkward, with the neck folded in a letter S shape.
The feed as herons do on fish in the shallow shore waters; in pastures on insects and their larvae, hunting grasshoppers and crickets but also small rodents.
Egret observations confirm that they move around quite widely: LINK
Great egrets
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